The Hoops captain met the Northern Irishman as he was deciding whether to return to Parkhead.
Callum McGregor has revealed details of his conversation with Brendan Rodgers last summer, before the Celtic manager confirmed his choice to return.
The Northern Irishman and the Hoops stunned Scottish football by reconciling years after he enraged fans by leaving Leicester while they were nearing the end of their 10-year Premiership winning streak. Many people struggled to accept the appointment, but everything was forgiven after a league and cup double.
It was well reported at the time that Celtic directors rushed to Majorca to speak with Rodgers after identifying him as the man they wanted to replace Ange Postecoglou last summer. The skipper was also among those who travelled to see his old boss.
Now that his first year back has come to an end, the two have reminisced on that occasion. Rodgers feels the conversation with McGregor was crucial.
The Scotland midfielder told Sky Sports: “I was just excited to meet him after a few years. When the manager contacted us, we sat down and spoke, and it was evident right away that he was intrigued.
“He was probing and asking questions about certain players, how the club was and how it had moved forward. Straight away I’m getting excited because I’m thinking ‘this is going to happen, he’s going to come back.’
“I just tried to give my honest evaluation of where I thought the club was, where we can get better and keeping pushing to evolve. I knew that would be a big thing for the manager, he wants to continue to move. That’s one thing I learned from the first time he was here, he’s always pushing for more and to raise the standards.
“We knew where we were wanting the club to go and I was excited about working with the manager again. We were a young, exciting squad that probably needed that next level of guidance again to get us to where we wanted to be. I thought the manager would be the perfect guy for that.”
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